Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Top UK Defence Expert: "British Security At Risk From Huawei"

Britain’s national security is being
put at risk because a Chinese telecoms giant is being given too much
access, the former head of the Minister of Defence’s cyber security unit
warned.

Major General
Jonathan Shaw claimed ministers were ‘compromising’ on security and
‘dealing with the devil’ in opening up to the firm Huawei. A
former assistant chief of defence staff, he had specific responsibility
for cyber security at the Ministry of Defence (MoD) for more than three
years until April.

This
month a US congressional report published earlier this month that raised
security concerns about Huawei and another Chinese telecoms company,
ZTE. Major
General Shaw told investigative website Exaro: ‘The economy is in such a
mess that the government feels that it has to compromise on security in
favour of continued economic freedom.‘So, it is dealing with the devil and I think that the government is very conscious of that now.

‘Certainly there are enough people in
the [intelligence] agencies who are saying that, but they are also
aware of the economic cost of not dealing with Huawei.‘The concern over corporate espionage is a bit like global warming. It is not today’s issue. But, by God, it is there.'Earlier this month it emerged Huawei, which has been accused of posing
a threat to America's national security, was being investigated over a
controversial £2.5 billion deal with British Telecom.

‘There
is the very real fear that the extent of Huawei’s current telecoms
penetration could mean that in the long term we shall have lost so much
intellectual property by the time we put our house in order that there
will be no economy left to recover.’ Australia
blocked Huawei bidding for a government contract this year, citing
national security, and Canada is said to be considering following suit.Huawei first entered the UK in 2001, and has invested especially heavily in the country since 2005.Last
September Prime Minister David Cameron hosted Huawei’s founder, Ren
Zhengfei, a former People’s Army officer, to Downing Street. Later
Huawei announced plans to invest a further £1.3billion in the UK.

Larry Wortzel, a member of the US-China
economic and security review commission, a US congressional body, said:
‘Any government should have substantial concerns about the activities of
Huawei.’